Who is Akjela?
Akjela is the name of our project, our musical playground. The origins of the band go back a few years, when I (Anji) moved back to Austria after more than 5 years in Germany. Living in and rediscovering my own roots and not least my childhood language (Upper Austrian dialect) set a creative process in motion, which resulted in a large number of songs and layouts. The dialect played a decisive role in this process. When it came to the question of what to do with the material, curiosity and the desire to get out of old familiar patterns and not work in a conventional band context led to the idea of dressing the dialect in an electronic guise. We found the perfect partner, friend and producer for this in Niko Stössl (SlikNik). In this 3-person constellation of Alex, Niko & me, our two EPs "Lauf" & "Bleib" were created.
How did the name "Akjela" come about?
Well, band names are one of those things that you don't just shake out of your sleeve. It was important to us that the name didn't imply a specific language, because we see dialect as an art form that isn't tied to a region or a country. Furthermore, from the very beginning we gave ourselves the freedom to use other languages as we wished. When our son Kolja was allowed to play the role of AKELA, the head of the wolf pack that took in Mowgli, in a school production of The Jungle Book, I pricked up my ears. AKELA comes from the Indo-Aryan language Hindi and means "lonely" - in the context of The Jungle Book, "the lone wolf". Spiked with my favorite letter J, I found the name AKJELA, melodious & yet edgy.
The video for "Steh Auf" was shot by David Kleinl (best known as a video artist for Bilderbuch and many others, editor's note). A pretty elaborate production - just like the new video "You" and "Wüde Viecha". What relevance do you attribute to videos as a marketing tool?
That's a good question - opinions sometimes differ within the band. Alex usually sees it pragmatically, i.e. as a means to an end. If it also looks good, then great! But he wouldn't go to so much trouble for a video on his own initiative. I, on the other hand, would prefer to illustrate every song with the ones that are already created during writing and production. Well, you get what you pay for! We've been very lucky to get such talented, dedicated and crazy people involved in our videos so far - the masterminds David Kleinl for "Steh auf", Bernd Preiml for "Wüde Viecha" and Jenny Gand for "You". Whereby "You" (the song "Bleib", title track of our current EP) was created as the soundtrack for a fashion video. Each one a matter of the heart that could only be realized because of a vision and the tireless idealism of a lot of people. Videos are a precious addition, a high art in their own right! However, we take a critical view of the fact that it has now become a matter of course to have singles plus videos at the start. This is a real challenge that can sometimes become a burden. But if we are talking about a "rule" here, let's remember: rules are there to be broken!
Which source of income is most important to you as a professional musician? Online sales, CDs or live performances?
Live performances are the most important. Besides the source of income, a concert is the real moment where it happens, where your creative work resonates directly with people: it can be crass, beautiful, ruthless, fulfilling or sobering. In any case, talked about a million times and not without reason!
What can we expect from you next?
We are currently in an experimental phase that is pushing us musically and emotionally more and more in the direction of our original inclinations. It's quite possible that the sound will become rougher, bulkier & more blunt. We'll see & you'll hear! Thank you